CHAPTER XIX
NEWS OF LARRY
For a minute after the Spanish woman finished, nobody in themill-house spoke. Her tale had impressed both Ben and the majordeeply, and they looked with cold contempt at the two regulars who hadso disgraced the uniform they wore.
"This is a fine doings, truly," said Major Morris, at length. "Iwonder what your commander will say when he hears of it."
"If you please, they have deserted the American army," put in thewoman. "They said as much while they were drinking my husband'swine."
"It ain't so!" burst out the older regular, fiercely. "And that womanhas told you a string of--"
"Shut up!" interrupted the major, sternly. "I will take this lady'sword against yours every time--after what I have witnessed of both ofyou. Your name, please?"
"I ain't telling my name jest now," was the sullen response.
"Aren't you?" Up came the major's pistol again. "Your name, I said."
"Jack Rodgrew."
"And what is yours?" went on the commander of the first battalion,turning to the younger regular.
The man hesitated for a second. "My name is Jerry Crossing."
"Indeed! How is it your mate called you Bill awhile ago?"
"Why--er--er--"
"I don't believe either of the names is correct," went on the major.
"He is called Bill, and the other is Yadder," put in the Spanishwoman. "I heard the names many times."
"Then that will answer, since I also have your company and regiment.Now, then, throw down your cartridge belts."
"Throw 'em down?" howled the regular called Bill.
"That is what I said. Throw them down at once."
"But see here, major--"
"I won't stop to argue with you. Throw the belts down, or take theconsequences."
"And what will the consequences be?" questioned Yadder.
"The consequences will be that I will form myself into a court-martial,find you guilty of desertion, and shoot you down where you stand.Come, do those belts go down or not?"
"I reckon they go down," grumbled Yadder; and unloosening the article,he allowed it to slip to the floor, seeing which, his companionfollowed suit.
"Now both of you hold your hands over your heads, while CaptainRussell searches you for concealed weapons."
"We ain't got no concealed weapons."
"I didn't ask you to talk, I told you to hold up your hands."
With exceeding bad grace the two deserters, for such they reallyproved to be, held up their arms. Approaching them, Ben went throughone pocket after another and felt in their bosoms. Each had a longnative knife, such as are usually used in the rice-fields.
"I suppose you do not call those concealed weapons," was MajorMorris's comment, as Ben came over to him with the knives and thecartridge belts. The rascals' guns stood back of the door behind thecommander of the first battalion.
"It ain't fair to take everything away from us," began Yadder, whentwo shots, fired in rapid succession, cut him short. The shots camefrom up the stream and not over fifty yards from the mill-house. Soonfollowed a shouting of voices, and all in the place knew that a bandof rebels were approaching.
"They are after somebody!" exclaimed Ben. "They are coming--"
The young captain got no further, for just then there sounded aclatter on the outer steps, and a second later an American soldierburst into the mill-house. He was in tatters, and his left arm hunglimply by his side, for he had been shot in the shoulder.
"Americans!" he gasped, as he cast a hurried glance about. "Thank Godfor that! The rebels are after me, half a dozen strong."
"He went up into the house!" came from without, in the Tagalogdialect.
"After him, men, the _Americano_ must not escape us!"
And then footsteps were heard around the house and on the stairs. Benand the major looked at each other questioningly. What was to bedone?
"The trap," whispered the young captain. "If they come up here, we canescape through that."
There was no time to say more, for already the rebels were coming upthe stairs, shouting loudly for the escaped _Americano_ to givehimself up. They advanced in a body, evidently not caring to separatein the darkness, and thinking to find the man alone.
With quick wit Ben ran and placed the table against the door, and onthis piled the bench.
"Now the trap, and be quick!" he whispered, and Major Morrisunderstood. Flinging open the door in the floor he looked down, tobehold the stream flowing beneath.
"Follow me--it's the best way out," he said to the escaped prisoner.Then he dropped down, holding his pistols over his head, that theymight not get wet.
The wounded man was in a desperate humor and lost no time infollowing. By this time the rebels were hammering lustily on the doorwhich Ben was holding shut.
"What are we to do?" demanded the older of the deserters. "Are you--"
"You can take care of yourselves," answered the young captain, andrushing over to the trap-door he let himself through, closing the trapafter him. Then came a plunge into the water, but the stream here wasless than four feet deep, and he followed Major Morris and the woundedman to the bank without difficulty. A loud shouting came fromoverhead, followed by a storm of words from both rebels and deserters,and also from the Spanish woman. Fortunately for the woman, among therebels was a nephew, who at once came to her aid, and had the twodeserters from the American army made prisoners.
"We had better put a little distance between ourselves and that mill,"suggested Major Morris, as all three shook the water from their lowergarments.
"How is it? are you badly wounded?" asked Ben, turning to their newlymade companion.
"Oh, I can go ahead," said the soldier. "It's rather painful,though."
"We'll take care of it for you at the first chance we get," added Ben;and then the three set off at a brisk pace along the stream and overthe rocks to a grove in which they felt they would be comparativelysafe until daylight, if no longer.
As the mill-house was left behind, all became quiet, and in the grovenothing disturbed them but the hum of the insects and the occasionalcry of some night bird.
Lighting a match, Ben examined the man's wound and bound it up withthe major's handkerchief, his own having been left behind with theSpanish woman. The stranger said that his name was Barton Brownell.
"I have been a prisoner of the insurgents for some time," he said,when asked to tell his story. "I was captured just before our troopstook Malolos. They had six prisoners all told, and they took us to aplace called Guinalo, which is probably forty miles from here, and upin the mountains."
"While you were a prisoner did you see or hear anything of aLieutenant Caspard?" asked Major Morris, quickly.
"To be sure I did!" burst out Barton Brownell. "He came to see meseveral times. He has joined hands with the insurgents, and he wantedme to join them, too. But I told him I would rot first," added thewounded man, and his firmness showed that he meant what he said.
"And was Caspard in the field with the rebels?"
"Yes. He was hand in glove with General Luna and the other rebelleaders, and I think he had turned over some messages from GeneralOtis's headquarters to the rebels. But, candidly speaking, I thinkLieutenant Caspard is somewhat off in his head. Once he came to me andsaid that if only I and the other prisoners would join him, we couldend this shedding of blood inside of a week."
"He must be crazy, to join the rebels," put in Ben. "Does he hold anyposition under them?"
"They call him _capitan_, but if he has such a position, it is merelya nominal one. I think the natives are beginning to suspect that he isnot quite right in his mind. But still they love to hear him praisethem, and they swallow a good bit of what he says, like so manychildren."
For the moment Major Morris was silent. Then he turned to Ben. "Ourmission seems to have come to a sudden end," he said. "Brownell cantell Colonel Darcy all he wants to know." And he related to theescaped prisoner the reason for their coming beyond
the Americanlines.
"Yes, I reckon I can tell the colonel well enough," answered BartonBrownell. "For I saw Caspard often, as I mentioned before, and henever knew what it was to keep his tongue from wagging."
"And how did you escape?" asked Ben, with interest.
"In a very funny way," and the soldier laughed. "As I said before, wewere kept up in the mountains, in a large cave. There were six of ourtroop, but all told the prisoners numbered twenty-eight. There was aguard of four rebels to keep us from escaping, and an old woman calledMother Beautiful, because she was so ugly, used to cook our food forus--and the food was mighty scanty, I can tell you that.
"Well, one day two of the guards went off, leaving the old woman andthe other two guards in sole charge. There had been a raid of somekind the day before, and the guards had some fiery liquor which madethem about half drunk. The old woman got mad over this, and she wasmore angry than ever when one of the guards refused to get her a pailof water from a neighboring spring. 'I'll get the water, mother,' saysI, bowing low to her, and would you believe it, she made the twoguards let me out, just to get her the water."
"And the water hasn't arrived yet," said Major Morris, laughing.
"No, the water hasn't arrived yet," answered Barton Brownell. "As soonas I reached the spring I dropped the pail and ran for all I wasworth, and hid in the brush along the mountain side. I stayed theretwo days and nearly starved to death. Then they hunted me out, and Ireceived this wound. But I escaped them and made my way through thejungle and over the rice-fields to here, and here I am."
"You say there were twenty-eight prisoners all told," cried Ben. "Didyou ever hear anything of my brother, Larry Russell?"
"Larry Russell?" repeated Barton Brownell, thoughtfully. "To be sure Idid. He is a sailor from the _Olympia_, isn't he?"
"Yes! yes! And was he with you?"
"He was, at first. But he wasn't when I left. They moved some of theprisoners away, and he was among them. So he was your brother? Thatbeats all, doesn't it--to think I should fall in with you in such aplace as this!"